Halloween in June Idea

For those who are new to my life here on the internets, you may not be aware that I love Harry Potter. Wait, that doesn't seem like a strong enough statement. I don't know that what I have is necessarily an obsession, but it comes close. I have used the phrase "Dumble-dork" on more than one occasion. I have seen all the movies on opening day, the last 2 were seen at midnight. The first movie I was working for a Congressman in DC. I told my boss I had an "appointment." Technically, it was true. I had an appointment to see Harry. It was worth all the teasing when the truth was outed.

I have read the books more times than I care to admit. My pregnancy with Ginger was fraught with morning sickness for the first, oh, 18 weeks. I spent an entire week on the couch reading all 7 books. And then moved onto the Twilight series, which is post for another day. When we were at a family reunion on Cape Code, book 6 came out. I had one of the Spinster Sisters watch my kids while Curly and I went to get the book. At midnight. In fact, I have gotten most of the books at midnight, or had them delivered to my door first thing in the morning via amazon.

To sum up, I am a fan. The fact that the movie comes out while we are going to be on vacation has not escaped my notice. I doubt I'll be able to go at midnight, since the closest theater to us will be 40 miles away. It makes me sad. One thing I'll be doing with my kids before that is making wands. If that makes me a Dumble-dork, so be it.

Harry Potter

I am a Harry Potter fan. For me, it doesn't get any better than that good lookin' wizard flying around on his broomstick. I caught Potter-mania when I came home from my mission and read the first 3 books in about a week. I did not preorder the 4th book, and I regretted it. I was living in Utah at the time and anything trendy sells out in about an hour there. I had to wait for amazon.com to get back in stock. When the first movie came out, I was working on Capitol Hill and decided to take a personal day, citing some vague "appointment," and saw the movie at about 10 am with my parents. Loved it. (I was also found out by my boss. Oops.) I did not preorder book 5, but there were plenty of copies to go around. The movies for books 2-4 were all seen by the second night. For book 6, we were vacationing on The Cape with Curly's family. We left our kids in the hotel room with his sister at about 11:00 and got in the car, driving until we spotted a Border's or Barnes and Noble. We found one and by 1 am had a book in hand. Oh the lengths I will go to be a part of the Potter world. I have yet to dress up as one of the character at any of these book or movie events, but there is still one book left and several movies, so I wouldn't rule anything out.

Knowing my love of Harry (I even suggested we name Patch Harry...), you won't be surprised to know that Curly and I got a babysitter last night and caught the 9:40 showing of the movie that came out Wednesday. I know some people thought it was "just okay," but I thought it was fabulous. For one thing, it was about an hour shorter than the previous 2 movies. In the book, Harry finds himself shouting a lot, and also isolating himself from his friends because he feels they don't understand him. I felt the movie toned that down a bit, but it still played to his teen angst. As always, my favorite was Ron Weasley. That kid has perfected the grimace. He also has the funniest lines.

The next book comes out a week from today. This time, I have preordered. I don't yet have a sitter, but I'm not too worried. Maybe we'll go see the movie again and then head over to the party. Maybe I'll wear scarlet and gold. I took the sorting test, and it looks like I'd be better suited for Hufflepuff, where students are fair-minded, friendly, modest, and hard working. One point behind was Ravenclaw, where students are clever, witty, intelligent, and knowledgeable. Maybe instead of scarlet and gold, I should wear yellow and black or blue and bronze.